The Moment
by dmnq8
Summary: "I had a moment. I guess it's a moment everyone has in their lives, when they decide one way or the other how they're going to live." Basically picks up where chap 567 leaves off. Sasunaru. SS for GokuderaxTsuna-fan on dA. Disclaimers in my profile.


A/N: Secret Santa piece I did on dA for **GokuderaxTsuna-fan**. It took an effort that does not bear consideration to come up with something dissimilar to Tangency, considering she wanted something with Sasuke returning to the village, or based off_ 'I Surrender' _by Celine Dion. Never heard of the song, but after a glance at the lyrics, I groaned. Still, I figured I'd try, and this is what I got.

Now. To my mind, drained as Naruto is of chakra, he _would_ transform if pressed. Also, I'll leave judgment on Sasuke's motives and sanity to you readers, though his state of mind is clear to me. Would be interested in hearing your comments. ^_^_  
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><p><strong>The Moment<br>**

_He had to be careful. And timing would be everything. Three targets. Well, four actually. But the main three first, the fourth…later._

_Power, he thought with a satisfied smirk, gave one the luxury of having everything they ever wanted in life. A fact he'd learned from his recent –and soon to be ex- benefactor. He could reach his goals and have his dreams too._

_There was never any question of who his first target would be. The first wasn't the most difficult, only the most strategically necessary. Bounding through the trees almost silently, he worked his way toward this person in as roundabout and undetectable a fashion as possible. He would have to be _very_ careful; his first target was first for a reason: he was wiliest. _

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><p>Kabuto studied the war effort from his board and tried to suppress his smile. Naruto, who always seemed to prevail no matter what, wasn't doing so well now that he-<p>

A faint rustle above him had him jerking his head up. No one snuck up on him, ever. Impossible.

Only a bird. A crow. Its flight from the trees dislodged a leaf. He watched it sway to the ground, before scanning the tree once more-

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><p><em>Snaring Kabuto with Tsukuyomi was only the first step. He didn't trust Tsukuyomi to be able to hold<em> _someone as skilled as Kabuto, and so contrived to compound the Genjutsu with a few enhancements of his own, effectively overpowering Kabuto's formidable mind. _

_-oOo-  
><em>

Within the technique, Kabuto was already sweating, perhaps aware of how dire his situation was. "You-" he bit out, glaring at his captor.

_-oOo-_

_He'd needed to subdue that snake tail as well, and prevent Nidaime Manda from being called into play. All that was settled now. He only needed a moment._

_The metallic hiss of his blade severing Kabuto's head from his shoulders was a quiet, almost dignified sound. Studying the war board as he wiped his blade clean, he wondered what the Allied Shinobi thought of his contribution to their efforts. It wasn't really, of course. A contribution, that was. It was a means to an end. To his fourth target._

_One down._

_-oOo-  
><em>

_Target number two was one he'd actually had to consider carefully. It was this careful consideration which had forced him to select Kabuto as his first; target two was a reanimated corpse, now dead thanks to Kabuto's demise. This left him free to pursue target three, who should even now be wondering what had happened to all his lovely Jinchuuriki._

_Idly wondering what the Kage thought of their opponent's unexplained defeat, he was in the trees and off again, the moment his sword was sheathed._

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><p>Naruto, 'Bee, Kakashi, Gai and Madara stood looking around at the fallen Jinchuuriki. Madara felt a bitter curse swell in throat. <em>Kabuto, what have you done?<em> At that moment, Naruto gave a tentative cheer at their seeming victory, unexplained as it was, but Kakashi and Gai were leery…hence they were the only ones to react in time to Madara's attack, of wild, unchecked fury.

"All my plans," Madara screamed, "all of them _ruined! _It's your fault," he raged irrationally at Naruto. "YOURS!"

It was soon discovered that a maddened Madara was no easier to fight than seven Jinchuuriki, despite the fact that he was outnumbered. The fight was desperate, with Kakashi and Gai going down fast, and Naruto and 'Bee struggling to hold their own as they realized, belatedly, that if the Jinchuuriki were down, then the other resurrections were likely down as well, which explained Madara's rage.

As if to confirm this, the five Kage landed in a loose circle around Madara, Naruto, and 'Bee, coming to their aid. When a sixth person landed amongst this standoff, the Kage, Naruto, and Bee barely had time to recognize him before he engaged a horrified Madara and nearly lopped his head off. Madara evaded in the nick of time.

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><p><em>Target three would probably be the hardest to kill, he reflected dispassionately, simply because he was impossible to catch. But he'd remedied that. Lying still for all those days immediately after the transplant, he'd worked out quite a few things. One of them was an intricate seal that he designed to specifically prevent Madara from phasing. It was written on an ordinary piece of paper then slapped directly onto Madara's skin, where the kanji transferred themselves and remained. He doubted Madara was even aware of its placement; he'd set it on the older Uchiha by means of blocking a punch. Madara certainly noticed the effects. He stood staring in shock as his body remained stubbornly corporeal.<em>

_He was aware of the Kage backing away, of Tsunade checking the condition of Kakashi and Gai, even of the way the Tsuchikage put a restraining hand on The Raikage's arm to stop him interfering. It was gratifying to see they had the sense to recognize that _he_ was the only one who could defeat Madara._

_Most of all, he was aware of the glad, disbelieving shout of his name from Naruto. It sent a white-hot burst of sensation through his chest, but he ruthlessly ignored that to focus on Madara, who was now trying to speak to him, engage in dialogue. An effort at distraction. Madara felt comfortable doing this, he knew, because the older man thought he still had an ace up his sleeve._

"You did this," Madara seethed. But there was admiration and no small amount of acknowledgement in his voice. Awareness of someone who might be an equal, and therefore extremely dangerous. "You killed Kabuto, and did…this." He gestured at his own body.

_He refrained from commenting, watchful._

"How did you get Kabuto to voluntarily reverse the resurrections?"

_That had been a simple matter of Genjutsu, but he would not divulge that. He was aware that Madara was too cunning by far, and elected to remain on the highest alert possible to an attack from any quarter…after all he was up against Eternal Mangekyo and the Rinnegan. _

_When the attack came, he was ready._

_-oOo-  
><em>

_Working in his favor was the fact that Madara had not done actual battle, serious battle, in too many years to count. He was old. Also, the seal he'd devised to prevent Madara from phasing, likewise performed the nifty feat of nullifying all space/time jutsu. Well, probably not all, he amended privately. Only the one which allowed Madara to escape to his dimensions, which was all he cared about. At realizing this, Madara gave the tiniest opening in his boundless outrage, and he took it. _

_How eerily quiet the end was. As if in recognition of the end of an era, all sound had been bled from the world. Time seemed to slow. He plunged his blade in Madara's heart, using a two-handed grip to see that it exited Madara's back. He could feel the lurch of that heart as it twitched around his blade, and felt when it stopped as he gave his sword a vicious, calculated twist. The organ was damaged beyond repair as he yanked the sword upward through ribs, muscle, and shoulder joint, turned his blade again, and took Madara's head off for certain this time, all in the same smooth motion._

_Sound returned with the fall of Madara's head to the forest floor. He heard its dull thud, heard his name shouted again by Naruto. He was turning toward this shout, towards this final goal of his, even as Naruto ran and slammed joyously into him._

_There was a nanosecond of hesitation on Naruto's part before he locked his arms around his neck in a suffocating hug. He didn't even have time to react to the hug before Naruto was yanked away._

_The five Kage were surrounding him, shouting questions, pinioning his arms and taking his sword. He saw Naruto hauled away by Killerbee and Kakashi, yelling, fighting furiously, then erupting in an angry display of Kyuubi's chakra and heavy, snarling rage. He watched in fascination as Naruto began transforming, then realized his former team mate meant to come to his rescue, and would likely kill whoever got in his way once the transformation was complete._

_Someone administered a blow to the back of his head, and everything went dark._

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><p>The Raikage grunted in approval, having been the one to knock their savior unconscious. He stood glaring down at his crumpled form, even as Tsunade and Kakashi reasoned with an out-of–control Naruto. That situation, too, necessitated the use of force, but it was 'Bee who eventually got the youth to calm down.<p>

"B-b-but that's Sasuke," Naruto blabbed hysterically when he was back to normal. "He _saved_ us, he came back and saved us and you just-"

Tsunade spoke to him quietly for several minutes. From where they were watching, the Kage saw his wild expression calm somewhat. After a moment they saw Naruto nod, and Tsunade came back toward them, face grim.

She stood looking down at Sasuke. "He killed Kabuto and Madara. Somehow I have trouble believing we got the best of him. He let himself be taken, mark my words. Bind him," she ordered. "He's coming back to headquarters with us, where he will be detained, questioned, and _if_ I deem it appropriate, punished." She said this last harshly, in reply to The Raikage's sudden protests.

* * *

><p><em>He wasn't surprised to find himself incarcerated when he woke up, or to be able to hear Naruto's voice somewhere in the distance demanding to be allowed to see him. His arms were locked by heavy manacles behind his back, shackles that stretched from wrists to elbows. His legs were similarly bound to the knees in dense metal restraints. He was hooded.<em>

_Unable to sense any chakra in himself, he had to assume it had been drained while he was out of it and that it would be drained again whenever it began to return. He sensed a great many people near him. Thousands. Probably the Alliance's headquarters._

_He was not unbound to eat. Someone lifted his hood enough to feed him. Someone later led him to a toilet and stood there while his business was attended to. Once concluded, he was led back to what he assumed was a cell or room. _

_-oOo-  
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_He counted time by keeping track of his guards and when they switched shifts. He had no idea who they were specifically, but he knew there was at least one Kage at all times. Eventually he was able to tell which Kage was guarding him on any given day. He always knew when it was the Mizukage's turn by her light perfume. The Tsuchikage always broke wind, and had an unpleasant odor of some kind of ointment he used on his back. Gaara's breathing was slow and light, while The Raikage's was deep and heavy. And Tsunade's heels gave her away every time. None of them ever attempted conversation. _

_By his reckoning, a month passed. Naruto's voice was a daily fixture, yelling somewhere in the distance to be allowed to see him, and usually answered by Tsunade's furious tirade about why that couldn't happen right now. He was never able to make out individual words, but he could guess what she was telling him. He was never allowed direct information in the form of overheard conversations; extra care was taken to ensure that he was kept in a vacuum._

_-oOo-  
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_Another month, and he sensed change of some sort. It came to him gradually that the amount of people around him were less. Perhaps the Alliance was breaking up, shinobi returning to their home villages. This seemed to be the case, since his guard no longer consisted of the Kage. Now he sensed others guarding him, sometimes as many as ten individuals. Sometimes there was an Inuzuka present. He could both smell the dog, and hear its panting. Sometimes he heard the crunching of potato chips being eaten, but that was all he could tell._

_Traveling. The entire encampment moving back to Konoha, he assumed. Naruto's voice had gotten tantalizingly close a time or two during this upheaval, accompanied by what he later recognized as Sakura's voice. Before the sound of thunderous rage from Tsunade drowned out Naruto's desperate cry of his name, he heard Sakura whisper to Naruto that she was sorry, and they would try again. _

_He had to smile. Sakura was intelligent. If she was now helping Naruto get to him, he didn't doubt that there would be success at some point. He only needed a moment with Naruto._

* * *

><p><em>He was right, of course. Sometime after reaching Konoha –two weeks by his calculations- there was a scuffle, a squawk, a series of painful-sounding blows, and then his hood was snatched off. He blinked in the dim light, eyes blurry with disuse. Naruto's hot breath washed against the side of his face.<em>

"_Sasuke!" Naruto squeaked. He realized this was Naruto's version of a whisper. "I'm here. I'm trying to get the old lady to let you go on…on…"_

"_Your own recognizance," Sakura's voice supplied from some point ten feet to his right. "Naruto hurry, they won't stay out for long!" Then shyly, "Sasuke, you were so brave taking out Madara and Kabuto like that! We always knew you'd come back to us. We're going to make sure you go free, just trust us."_

_He listened to this, and sensed Naruto nodding frantically. Strong hands settled on his shoulders and shook him slightly. "Sasuke? That is why you came back, right? To…I mean, because…" His question hung in the air._

"_I came back for you," he said clearly. "Give me your ear, Naruto."_

_He felt the shell of Naruto's ear pressed to his lips at the same moment that Sakura gave a tiny scream. Tsunade's voice was heard in the distance, approaching fast, and he spoke quickly, trying to get it all out before Naruto had to leave. It was close. He was whispering the last word even as Sakura gave a louder scream this time, started to stammer an apology, and was viciously and violently cut short. Naruto was forcibly yanked away, but made no sound. Tsunade's rage was deafening in the confines of his cell, particularly when she lit into his revived guards sometime later._

_As diverting as all that was, his thoughts remained on one thing: the way Naruto had begun trembling against him halfway through the whispered message._

* * *

><p><em>Naturally he did not hear Naruto's voice again. Months passed. Wherever he was, he could hear the reconstruction of Konoha going on all around him. He was content. With the seed safely planted in Naruto's ear, he knew it was only a matter of time. Naruto's determination dwarfed everyone's. <em>Everyone's except mine, _he amended._

_A day came six months after he killed Kabuto and Madara when his guards were replaced by Tsunade. She spent an hour sitting quietly in his presence before she finally spoke. Outside Naruto and Sakura, they were the first words spoken directly to him._

_She questioned him extensively, listened, asked more questions. He answered everything, but did not volunteer information. He could sense her distrust, just as he could sense her desire to have things end favorably…in other words without his execution._

"Which is a distinct possibility," she said when she'd finished explaining his situation. "The only mitigating factors are your actions with Madara and Kabuto, and the stubborn, stalwart, loyal, and thoroughly annoying efforts of your former team mates. Particularly one blond rascal who persists in getting on my last nerve."

_There was a pause, as she brought her breathing under control. He was glad he had the hood to hide his smirk. He could only imagine the fight Naruto was putting up on his behalf, which, of course, had been the whole point of his whispered message. Well, almost the whole point. _

"I'm supposed to believe those things you said? That you came back for him?" she asked after a while.

"Believe it or not. It's the truth."

"Why?" she asked bluntly.

"Because," he said. "There are some things you can't run from. I realize that now."

_She took this admission of his feelings in silence. Shortly afterward she was gone._

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><p><em>More time passed. More questioning. Sometimes from Tsunade, sometimes from older Jounin he knew would never succumb to an infiltration attempt from Naruto and Sakura. He waited, content to do so, and secure in the knowledge that things were going according to plan. He had power. All the power he needed. He was being kept from his fourth target for now, but it would come to him in time. Madara had taught him that power afforded one the luxury of patience. Waiting for the perfect time to strike was an art form. In the mean time he was serene.<em>

_By the time a trial was convened, he estimated that over a year had passed since he'd killed Kabuto and Madara. He was kept hooded and shackled throughout. He was questioned exhaustively, verbally attacked, confronted by all five Kage and Daimyo. He didn't offer much in his defense, but Naruto had that covered. His voice, missed during the dark, silent months of his incarceration, made him feel electrically alive as it stated terms for his acquittal in vocabulary he knew was Sakura's doing. Sakura spoke for him too, as did Ino. Shikamaru offered an intriguingly logical dissertation on why he should be allowed the chance to at least prove he'd truly surrendered and meant to reform. Lee was exuberant, if not tactically effectual. There were others. Perhaps the most persuasive was Kakashi, which surprised him, but the voice that did the most damage to the argument to have him executed was none other than Gaara's._

"I was worse than Sasuke. If I could change, so can he," Gaara finished in his quiet voice. "He should be given the chance to do so."

_There was a long, heated debate. Shouts and insults erupted from both sides, and Tsunade threatened in an ominous voice that even he could tell was close to the edge to completely annihilate anyone who didn't settle down_ immediately.

_Surprisingly, once the violence settled, the vote was in his favor by a narrow margin for him to go free with probation. There was a moment of stunned silence, then Naruto's wild yell seemed to stir everyone to action. Rough hands grabbed him and his shackles were unlocked from his arms and legs. The hood was whisked off. He blinked in the painful light of the courtroom in the new council building._

_In fact, he saw the council sitting still and disapproving on one of the back benches. They stared at him, and he stared at them through the obscuring length of his unkempt hair. By the time Naruto slammed into him, he'd broken eye contact and they'd stood up._

_Sakura added her weight to Naruto's as she joined in the hug. He staggered a bit, then decided that giving in to the display couldn't be considered too embarrassing. He awkwardly worked his arms around Naruto only, and squeezed back experimentally._

"_You're home," Naruto whispered hoarsely in his ear. "You're finally home."_

_There was more. The conditions for his probation were read to him, with Naruto standing impatiently by his side. Details about where he would live were put forth, as well as who he had to report to four times a day. He was really only aware of Naruto's sturdy hand in his the entire time._

* * *

><p>"So," Naruto chuckled nervously. He and Sasuke were sitting on the Hokage monument the next night, gazing at the construction visible below and the forests in the distance. A brilliant full moon hung low in the sky, frosting everything with pale light. "All that stuff you said when you were in jail…" he looked over at Sasuke with a mixture of shyness, embarrassment, and greedy interest. "Was it true?"<p>

Sasuke looked at him calmly, reclining on one elbow. "Was what true?"

"Come on, you know what I'm talking about."

"Refresh my memory," he smirked.

Naruto's face pinkened. "What, you want me to _repeat_ that?"

The challenging look Sasuke gave him was answer enough.

Naruto huffed. "Fine. You said, 'I've finally realized what my true desire is. It's you. I came back for you, want to be with you. If you give me the chance, I'll prove it to you in a thousand ways. When I told Tsunade I was surrendering, I wasn't surrendering to the village, or her, or anyone but you'."

Sasuke was impressed. "You got that verbatim."

"Pretty important words. What finally changed your mind and made you see how wrong you were all these years?"

Sasuke elected to answer the first part of the question after careful thought. "I had a moment. I guess it's a moment everyone has in their lives, when they decide one way or the other how they're going to live. Mine came when Madara cut into my eyes to transplant Itachi's into me. I couldn't feel the surgery, but I was aware. And it occurred to me that maybe, by stooping so low as to take my brother's eyes, that I'd finally gone too far. I know the truth about Itachi, you see. And taking his eyes because I couldn't admit certain things to myself was…unforgivable."

Naruto was rapt. "Admit what sorts of things?"

Sasuke met his eyes. "What do you think my words in jail meant?" he asked gravely.

Just as serious, Naruto said, "That you were finally ready to be my friend. And ready to let bygones be bygones. I am too, of course. I totally forgive you."

Sasuke stared at him for a long time, before looking down into the village. When he spoke, his voice was very quiet. "A big part of the reason I left the village was you."

"Me!"

"You were so bright and forceful…enough to make me forget my vengeance. Not completely, but sometimes I'd be staring at you, hating you because I liked you, and Itachi would be the last thing on my mind."

"Y-you _liked_ me?"

Ignoring the shock, Sasuke went on. "I think my feelings started changing when you had that fight with Gaara at the Chuunin exams. Seeing how hard you were fighting him to save me and Sakura. And that pissed me off. I _hated_ having those kinds of feelings, hated the way I couldn't stop thinking about you, or how strong you were getting, or how sometimes I-" He glanced guardedly at Naruto.

"What feelings?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"Leaving the village was a wrench, but I had to put Itachi first. And when you came after me…"

"You didn't kill me," Naruto remembered, struggling to understand. "Because of your feelings?"

"Couldn't," Sasuke corrected. "And later, when I saw you at the hideout...but by then I sort of understood myself a little more, and tried to hate you even more because of it. Then that final confrontation, when you told me you'd die with me…"

Naruto waited, but Sasuke switched gears.

"I'm not here to be your friend, Naruto. I'm here because my feelings go beyond friendship. And in the moment I finally decided to accept that, I decided to put Itachi's eyes to good use. It was the only way I could get close to you, turning myself in. Even if it meant the risk of execution." He searched the wide blue eyes for a glimmer of understanding.

There wasn't any. Naruto seemed relieved, was all. He grinned. "You're right. With as much as we've been through, we're way beyond friends. We're like brothers."

Sasuke's smile was tempered by the understanding that Naruto's mind was still shedding its adolescent thinking. It would take time before he could hear the truth of Sasuke's intentions and consider them properly. Sasuke had no doubt that he could seduce and win Naruto completely; the seeds were there, Naruto just needed to grow up enough for them to bear fruit. However, he did move closer to Naruto now and put an arm around him.

Naruto seemed glad of the contact and hugged back. He was smiling until Sasuke looked him in the eye and said, "One day I'm going to kiss you right here on this monument. And some day after that I'm going to do a lot more." "

A nervous, oddly excited flutter of heat squirmed in Naruto's stomach. He was suddenly unable to look away from Sasuke's handsome face beneath his newly trimmed hair. For a second, he had the confusing urge to tell Sasuke to do it now, but then his personality rallied to his defense and he laughed outright. He leaned back on his elbows and stared at the stars. Stalling, he said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm just glad you decided to give up your vendetta against the council. It's good to have you home, Sasuke."

Sasuke also leaned back, pleased by the flicker of response he'd seen in Naruto's eyes.

_I never said anything about giving up the council. I said I'd put Itachi's eyes to good use. They allowed me to get near you, but that in itself afforded me the only possible way to get to them. I knew I'd be caught. I knew there'd be a trial. And I knew they'd be there. What _they_ didn't know was that I cast a subtle Genjutsu on them when I looked at them yesterday. The suggestion I implanted in their minds is even now in the process of being carried out._

And considering that there was an ANBU unit assigned to tail Sasuke from a discreet distance at all times during his five-year probation, he had an air-tight alibi when the distant shout rose up somewhere in the village that Koharu and Homura had committed joint _seppuku. _

Smirking to himself at how he'd effectively killed several birds with one stone, Sasuke looked at Naruto, who was predictably unaware of the commotion taking place somewhere in the village, and listened as he launched into a re-enactment of the parts of the war Sasuke had missed. Sasuke was attentive.

_Fourth target down, _he thought. _My clan is avenged. Everyone who had a part in using my brother is dead, including Madara. Now I can devote all my time to you, Naruto._


End file.
